Humidifier



C. JENSEN May 16,- 1939.

HUMIDIFIER Filed Oct. 19, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 In 1/ er: zo 0/2 arias Janie/2 C. JENSEN May 16, 1939.

HUMIDIFIER Filed Oct. 19, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 In vefli'df' 'hariaa' Jensen Patented May 16, 1939 UNITED STATES;

HUMIDIEIER Charles Jensen, Evanston; 111.-

Application October. 19, 1936,; Serial No; 106,270.

This invention is relative to furnace humidifiers and-it is designed for the'purpose of; evaporating water directly into the heated air which is transmitted by ducts to all parts of. the house.

Some of. the main objects of the invention are to provide an improved and more. eflicient humidifier for'furnaces of thekind to-which'I- refer; to guard against and; prevent troublesome deposits of; lime; to provide for transmitting water.- gradually and continuously from outside the furnace into a most efiectiveevaporating and air moistening position within the furnace; to. provide for positive control of the evaporation rate; to provide for simple functional operation and for. easy repairs and renewal of parts; to provide a belt. conveyer system for introducing the water gradually into the air heating space, preferably just above the hot. dome of the furnace; to provide for regulation both as to conveyer belt speedand as to belt length; toprovide for this service a porous and flexible; heat-resistant belt adapted-to, carrythe water; from anoutside reservoir into the. furnace; and to. provide forremote, control of thisv device through humidity responsive means intheroom space to. be heated.

This'invention is illustrated by theaccompanying drawings in which:

Fig;. 1 is a vertical sectional diagram through the lower part of: a: dwelling; house includingthe basement furnaceroomand theroom above,;together withitheair-heating furnace. and its connections, my; attachment here being shown in side elevation.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan of my humidifier attachment apart from the furnace, the reservoir lid being removed.

Fig. 3 is a similarly enlarged vertical section through the furnace as a whole and on the line 33 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 4 is mainly a front elevation of the equipment shown in said Fig. 2, but with the water tank in vertical section on the line 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a greatly enlarged vertical section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2 and shows the pulley spacing adjustment means.

Referring to Fig. 1, the air heating furnace I is located as usual in the basement 2 of the dwelling house 3, one of the rooms 3 of which is shown fitted with a hot air register 4 communicating with the air duct 5 which conducts heated air upward from said furnace for distribution throughout the house.

The main feature of my invention is in the form of an air humidifying device 5 attached to the front of the furnace casing 1 above the fuel door 8.; whereby water is: fed into the; hot air space 9 above the firebox l0, ina; manner to bermosta evaporatively accessible; by; the. ascending heatedair, in said. furnace;

The invention: is operated; by an. electricv motor I2 which drives two pulley, rollers lflsand M with asbestos web belting suspended thereom. Five spacedtbelts-z t5 arersh'owni. Thedower. roller" I3 is, gearedto: said; motor; andoperates; in. a. compartment of. reservoir l6: with water l1 maintained thereirn at; a. certain level.- l'8 by meansof a float: control. indicated. by themembers; l9. This. device; li9iis; as commercial product and: its structura-is immaterial tocthis inventionz. Water entersZ reservoir.- l6. through; pipe: l9; connected to. the: device? I 9;

Thesaid-reservoirror. water hclderlfi islocated adjacently outsidethe furnaceaand its,back ZlLis insulated from the furnace by asbestospaper-ZL It has-a. lid H-hingedr at- 224; The main reason for placing; this. water compartment. outside the furnace? is. to:- prevent. accumulation therein of lime-or other mineral-deposit. Thezdirecttevaporation would. cause suchaa. depositto accumulate in.the.- water hololerrif placed.- inside the.- furnace.

TheIWGbI'bHItS: lt'nmoving. on said rollers-.transmit moisture: from the; reservoir l6;- to. a1point. 9 abovetheehottdomeia of the:f urnace,-,where. it is submitted to intense; heat... thereby causing the water. to. evaporate .into. the. heated air,. which; air travels thenceforth in ducts such as 5 toe the various,- rooms.

It is possible having one or more than one belt and by changing the number of belts to govern the capacity of the machine. The evaporating capacity may be varied also by changing the speed of the motor.

These belts may be spaced so as to admit air between them, as at 25, and such spacing assures against material resistance to the flow of furnace air. These belts do not act as a wick but they transmit the water inwardly and carry it bodily from the compartment [6 by mechanical operation to a point above the hot dome of the furnace where it is quickly evaporated.

Any deposit of lime, etc on the belting is so dry and brittle that it is broken up and shaken oif into the furnace by reason of the great heat and the mechanical action of the belt passing around the inner pulley.

This device can be controlled electrically and remotely by an electric humidostat 28, or similar control for the motor wired as at 29, from any room in the house, thereby assuring sufficient and preventing too much moisture or saturation.

The only time that one obtains humidity from this, device is when the humidostat calls for humidity, which automatically starts the motor, and when sufiicient humidity is obtained in the room the humidostat stops the motor and the belts remain stationary, so that no moisture is transmitted by them. Speed control can also be arranged for, as will be understood, e. g. either by motor control or by appropriate gearing. For instance, speed reducing gear is housed in the box 30. Positive driving of the belting I is assured by providing a rough face for the lower roller I3.

The upper roller [4 is carried by a pair of adjustable slide bearing blocks 33 and 34 for the roller journals 35, each block controlled by a screw 36 having a pair of adjusting nuts 31 and 38 bearing on the fixed crossbar 39. The inner ends of said bolts are secured to said blocks respectively. Said blocks 33 and 34 are slidable on the side arms 46 carried by the frame of the said attachment.

It is to be understood that some of the details set forth may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a furnace humidifying art, a furnace having an upright wall and a unitary attachment comprising a housing adapted for attachment to said wall, a reservoir within said housing and through said wall, a pair of arms projecting diagonally upward from said housing and through said wall, a pair of rollers mounted in spaced parallel relation, one within said reservoir and the other remotely therefrom and within said furnace on said arms, porous fireproof belting carried by said rollers, and a motor to drive said rollers and belting.

2. A furnace having a firebox and a hot dome and a closed air-heating space extending about and above said firebox and hot dome, in combination with humidifying means comprising a reservoir positioned outside of and adjacent to said furnace, belting disposed diagonally and extending from said reservoir upwardly into the air space adjacent said firebox and above the hot dome, operative means to support said belting, and a motor operatively connected to drive said belting for introducing moisture into the said air space.

3. A humidifier element consisting of a fireproof absorbent belt, in combination with a furnace, a source of water and means to support and operate the belt in effective communication with the upper interior of said furnace and said source of Water said source being relatively low.

4. In the furnace humidifying art, a unitary device comprising a housing adapted for attachment to a furnace, a reservoir within said housing, a pair of arms projecting diagonally upward from within said housing, a pair of rollers mounted in spaced parallel relation, one within said reservoir and the other remotely therefrom on said arms, mutually spaced absorbent fireproof belts carried by said rollers, and a motor to drive said rollers and belting.

5. A furnace having a firebox and a closed air heating space extending about and above said firebox, in combustion with humidifying means comprising a reservoir positioned outside of and adjacent to said furnace, absorbent belts disposed diagonally and extending from said reservoir upwardly into the air space adjacent said firebox, operative means including pulley elements for said belts to support said belts in spaced relation to each other to provide for air circulation about the several belts, and a motor operatively connected to drive said belts for introducing moisture into said air space, said belts being of tenacious and flexible fireproof material adapted for self cleaning of deposit thereon upon passing around the said pulley elements.

6. A furnace of the class described having a humidifying attachment comprising a reservoir outside the furnace, a pair of rollers disposed one within said reservoir and the other within the furnace, the latter at an elevation above the former, adjustable means to vary the length of space between said rollers, fireproof absorbent belting carried by said rollers, and power-driving means to operate said belting and rollers for conveying water from said reservoir into the furnace.

'7. A furnace having an outer wall enclosing an air heating space in combination with a mechanically operated self cleaning conveyor adapted and arranged to carry water continuously into said space, said conveyer comprising an inclined capillary belt extending from the outside, upward and through said wall into said space, and a pulley roller in said space about which said belt runs, and whereby mineral deposits from the Water are broken up and loosened from said belt.

CHARLES JENSEN. 

